The last Spirits of Wake Forest ghost walks leave Town Hall at 301 S. Brooks Street on Thursday and Friday, October 29 and 30. Tours start at 6:30 and 8 p.m. and head into the historic business district, mostly along South White Street. Trick-or-treating follows on Saturday, October 31. The Wake Forest Journal reports that police recommend 6 to 8 p.m.
After that, the same address takes over the holidays. Between late November and New Year's Eve, nearly every major holiday event in Wake Forest happens at Town Hall, on the plaza beside it, or within a few blocks of Brooks Street. That layout is intentional. It grew out of the reasons the town's Christmas parade ended, and it explains why the season stretches across five weeks instead of fitting into one afternoon.
Why the parade ended, and how that shaped what came next
For several years, Wake Forest Downtown, Inc. organized and sponsored the Christmas parade. The Town describes the group as a small set of volunteers. In March 2020, Wake Forest Downtown voted to stop sponsoring it and gave two main reasons. First, the group didn't have the volunteers or resources to keep producing it. Second, the street closures on parade day made getting around very hard for the growing number of people who now live downtown and need those roads.
No other group has taken it on since. According to the Town's Special Events Policy page, a few groups have shown interest but decided not to go ahead, mostly because of how much time, effort and money a parade takes. The Town also says it does not ban community groups or nonprofits from organizing one. On November 19, 2024, the Board of Commissioners approved an updated Motorized Parade Policy that sets out the requirements, and Town staff will meet with any group that wants to try. For 2026, the Wake Forest Journal's holiday guide notes that the Town's holiday schedule has no parade.
The second reason matters most for planning your December. A parade shuts down the street grid for one big day. Wake Forest's current events stay put on a plaza, in a park, in a theater or in a taproom, and they're spread over weeks. No single date ties up downtown, and because no one day is the whole season, missing one doesn't mean missing out.
The Brooks Street spine
Almost every holiday stop in town sits on or near one street.
- 203 Brooks St.: Norse Brewing Company, which hosts its Winter Market on December 5.
- 301 S. Brooks St.: Town Hall and Centennial Plaza, home to the Lighting of Wake Forest and the Holiday Artisans Market.
- 405 S. Brooks St.: The Renaissance Centre and its December shows.
- Jones Plaza, at South White Street and East Jones Avenue: The Letters for Santa mailbox.
The one major event away from downtown is at E. Carroll Joyner Park, 701 Harris Road. It's also the event with the longest run.
November gets things started without much fanfare
The season starts on Saturday, November 21, when two things happen. The Wake Forest Cares Holiday Kick-Off runs downtown from noon to 4 p.m. It's free and open to everyone, with family activities, a chance to learn about Wake Forest Cares programs, and the start of the annual Holiday Donation Drive. The Town hasn't posted the 2026 beneficiaries yet. In 2025, the Town asked the community to support six programs: Helping Others by Providing Electricity, known as HOPE; the Northern Community Food Security Team; Shop with a Cop; the Wake Forest Center for Active Aging Scholarship Program; the Wake Forest Firefighters Foundation; and the Wake Forest PRCR Scholarship Program.
The same day, the Letters for Santa mailbox returns to Jones Plaza. Children of any age can drop off letters through Tuesday, December 22, and they don't need postage.
The Renaissance Centre gets ahead of the holiday crowd on Saturday, November 14 with Adam Pascal: Broadway Unplugged at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $30. Small Business Saturday is November 28. The Wake Forest Journal's guide suggests Downtown Dollars as a gift that keeps the money in downtown shops. One of the newer shops is Framed Eyewear, an independent frame boutique owned by Anne Hanekom and Angela Brinkmann that opened downtown this year.
Registration for Calls from Santa opens Monday, November 23. You can sign up online or at the Joyner Park Community Center or Town Hall.
Friday, December 4, at Centennial Plaza
The Lighting of Wake Forest runs from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday, December 4, at Centennial Plaza. The Town lists the Christmas tree lighting and Santa's arrival. The rest of the details on the event page are from 2025, and the Town says 2026 details will be posted later.
In past years, Santa's arrival might have been the end of a parade. Now it happens at a fixed plaza next to Town Hall, on a Friday evening, without a long street closure.
Saturday, December 5, hour by hour
This is the day the season is built around. Four events overlap, three of them within walking distance on Brooks Street:
- 10 a.m.: The Downtown Holiday Open House starts and runs until 6 p.m. The Holiday Artisans Market opens at the same time at Centennial Plaza and the Town Hall parking lot, 301 S. Brooks Street. It's an outdoor juried market presented by ARTS Wake Forest and the Wake Forest Guild of Artists, and it runs until 4 p.m.
- 11 a.m.: Norse Brewing Company's Winter Market opens at 203 Brooks Street, with local vendors, Santa photos, food and drink specials, all indoors. It runs until 4 p.m.
- 4 p.m.: Both markets close. The Open House goes for two more hours.
- 6 p.m.: The Evening Holiday Walk opens at E. Carroll Joyner Park, just as the downtown Open House ends.
The timing lets one family do the plaza market in the morning, Norse around lunch and the shops in the afternoon, then drive to Harris Road after dark. The Town's page for the Open House lists 2025 activities and says 2026 details are coming, so check closer to the date for what individual shops are planning.
Joyner Park keeps the lights on through New Year's Eve
The Evening Holiday Walk runs from Saturday, December 5 through Thursday, December 31, 6 to 9 p.m. every night. It's free and open to everyone. The Wake Forest Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Department strings dozens of colorful lights on the crepe myrtles and shrubs in the Walker Garden and Performance Garden, with a Christmas tree nearly 20 feet tall on the Performance Garden stage.
Twenty-seven nights is far longer than a parade ever ran. If December 5 is too crowded, the same lights will be up on any weeknight later in the month.
The middle of December moves indoors
The second and third weeks of December shift to stages and smaller groups, and much of it is still on Brooks Street.
- Thursday, December 10: Calls from Santa run from 6 to 8 p.m. for children ages 3 to 9. They're free, registration closes Monday, December 7 at 5 p.m., calls must be to local numbers, and they may show up as unknown or with no caller ID. Earlier that evening, the Wake Forest Historical Museum holds an exhibit happy hour from 5 to 7 p.m.
- Friday, December 11: The Snowball Dance is a "Winter Wonderland" evening for people with disabilities ages 10 and up, with a DJ, dancing and refreshments. Admission is $15, and the Town asks that you register by November 30. The same night, Firebox Theatre opens Little Women at the Renaissance Centre at 7 p.m. It continues December 12 and 13 at 2 and 6:30 p.m., with tickets starting at $25 for adults and $15 for youth 12 and under.
- December 17 to 19: The Shaun Johnson Big Band Experience brings Run Run Rudolph to the Renaissance Centre, with shows at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets start at $40.
- Friday, December 18: The Historical Museum's calendar lists a free walking tour.
Wake Forest's holidays now run from November 21 to December 31, with no single day that decides the season. The Town's Tis the Season page lists the official 2026 events in one place, including Letters for Santa, Calls from Santa, the Lighting, the Open House, the Joyner Park walk, the Snowball Dance and the Artisans Market. The last chance to see the Joyner Park lights is Thursday, December 31, from 6 to 9 p.m. at 701 Harris Road.
If you live within walking distance of Centennial Plaza and want to know how that downtown access shows up in your home's value, The Oxford Team can walk you through it over coffee once the markets wrap up. Request a Free Home Valuation, and we'll bring the local knowledge we use every day.